Mark Dreyfus

The Honourable Mark Dreyfus QC MP
Attorney-General of Australia
In office 4 February 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Nicola Roxon
Succeeded by	George Brandis
Minister for Emergency Management
In office 4 February 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Nicola Roxon
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Minister for the Public Service and Integrity
In office 1 July 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Gary Gray
Succeeded by	Eric Abetz
Special Minister of State
In office 1 July 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Gary Gray
Succeeded by	Michael Ronaldson
Member of the Australian Parliament for Isaacs
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 November 2007
Preceded by	Ann Corcoran
Personal details
Born	(1956-10-03) 3 October 1956 Perth, Western Australia
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Deborah Chemke
Children	Three
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Profession	Lawyer

Mark Alfred Dreyfus QC (born 3 October 1956), an Australian lawyer and politician, is a former Attorney-General, Minister for the Public Service and Integrity, Minister for Emergency Management, and Special Minister of State in the Second Rudd Ministry. He has been a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Isaacs, Victoria since the 2007 federal election.

Early life and education

Dreyfus was born in Perth, Western Australia, the son of George Dreyfus, a noted composer who came to Australia as a refugee from Nazi Germany. Dreyfus was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne and the University of Melbourne where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws.^[1]

Prior to entering Parliament, Dreyfus worked as a barrister for some twenty years, with an extensive practice in commercial, defamation, constitutional and environmental law. In 1999 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel.

Dreyfus also served as a director of the Law Council of Australia, and on the Victorian Bar Council and Victorian Bar Ethics Committee.

Throughout both his legal and political careers, Mark has been an advocate for social justice, and for creating a sustainable environment for future generations.

Since his first professional role as a Field Officer for the Northern Land Council, Dreyfus has worked closely with Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, including representing a number of the claimants in the landmark Stolen Generations litigation.^[2]

Parliamentary career

In March 2006, Dreyfus successfully challenged the sitting Labor member for Isaacs, Ann Corcoran, for the right to contest the 2007 election. Although Corcoran won a majority of votes in the local ballot, Dreyfus, a member of the Labor Unity faction, had a large majority of supporters on the party's Public Office Selection Committee, and thus won the overall vote. Ironically, in his 1998 report, Dreyfus stated: 'Membership makes a party, not the other way around. Labor is, or should be, people—not vehicle, not structure, not hierarchy.' At the 2007 election, he defeated the Liberal candidate, Ross Fox, gaining a 5.9 per cent swing to Labor.

Following Labor's victory at the 2007 federal election, Dreyfus was appointed chairman of the House of Representatives Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. At the 2010 election, Dreyfus was re-elected, gaining a further 3.33 per cent swing to Labor.

In September 2010, Dreyfus was appointed as Cabinet Secretary as well as Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency in the Second Gillard Ministry.^[3] Dreyfus took on additional responsibilities in December 2011 when he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation.

MP expenses scandal

In October 2013, Dreyfus was drawn into the federal MP expenses scandal^[4][5] after admitting that he had claimed entitlements for staying in Canberra while he was in Perisher.^[6]

Comments on political opponents

In March 2011, he described the campaign by Tony Abbott against the carbon price as Goebellian cynicism.^[7][8][9]

In August 2011 he was accused of calling Sophie Mirabella a "bitch" in parliament. He denied the accusation although he did withdraw for an unparliamentary remark at the time.^[10]

Attorney-General

On 2 February 2013, Dreyfus was promoted to Attorney-General and as Minister for Emergency Management after the resignation of Nicola Roxon.^[11] Dreyfus was given additional responsibilities on 1 July 2013 as Special Minister of State and Minister for the Public Service and Integrity following the decision by Gary Gray to resign from the ministry following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill.^[12]

As Attorney-General, Dreyfus appeared before the International Court of Justice in The Hague as Counsel and Advocate for Australia in the case of Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan; New Zealand intervening) in June and July 2013.^[13] On 1 April 2014, the International Court of Justice handed down its decision in favour of Australia that Japan cease whaling in the Southern Ocean.^[14]

Personal life

Dreyfus lives with his wife Chilean-born Deborah (née Chemke) — with whom he has three children, Joe, Tom and Laura^[15][16] — in Malvern.^[17][18]

Dreyfus speaks fluent Spanish^[18] and has stated that, had he not become a lawyer, he would have liked to become a park ranger in the Alpine National Park.^[19]

See also

• First Gillard Ministry
• Second Gillard Ministry
• Second Rudd Ministry

References

External links

• Search or browse Hansard for Mark Dreyfus at OpenAustralia.org
• Mark Dreyfus website
• The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC, MP at the Parliament of Australia website

Second Rudd Cabinet Prime Minister: Kevin Rudd Anthony Albanese Chris Bowen Tony Burke Mark Butler Bob Carr Kim Carr Jacinta Collins Julie Collins Mark Dreyfus Joel Fitzgibbon Gary Gray Catherine King Jenny Macklin Richard Marles Brendan O'Connor Tanya Plibersek Bill Shorten Stephen Smith Penny Wong

Gillard Cabinet Prime Minister: Julia Gillard Anthony Albanese Chris Bowen Tony Burke Mark Butler Bob Carr Kim Carr Jason Clare Greg Combet Stephen Conroy Simon Crean Mark Dreyfus Craig Emerson Chris Evans John Faulkner Martin Ferguson Peter Garrett Gary Gray Joe Ludwig Jenny Macklin Robert McClelland Brendan O'Connor Tanya Plibersek Nicola Roxon Kevin Rudd Bill Shorten Stephen Smith Wayne Swan Lindsay Tanner Penny Wong